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AQA A-Level Urdu Past Papers & Mark Schemes
AQA A-Level Urdu past papers, mark schemes, and revision guidance. 7678 (now discontinued — last assessment 2018; AQA no longer offers Urdu A-Level).
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About AQA A-Level Urdu
AQA A-Level Urdu (specification code 7678) was a community-language qualification covering literature, social issues, and grammar of contemporary and classical Urdu. AQA discontinued the qualification in 2018 as part of the wider reform of community-language A-Levels; Pearson Edexcel now provides the only mainstream A-Level Urdu specification in England.
Past papers from AQA Urdu remain useful for two groups: students currently sitting the Edexcel A-Level Urdu (9UR0) who need additional reading and translation practice, and heritage speakers preparing for Urdu modules at university. The grammar, set texts and themes overlap heavily with the Edexcel specification.
Assessment under AQA combined a translation/listening paper, a writing paper drawing on set works (commonly Premchand short stories, Ghalib's ghazals, and contemporary Pakistani fiction), and a speaking examination based on candidate-led research projects. The examination tested four skills: listening, reading, writing, and speaking, with strong weight on classical and modern register awareness.
If you are taking the modern Edexcel A-Level (9UR0), use AQA past papers for additional translation and essay practice but use Edexcel's specification for vocabulary lists and prescribed texts.
Exam Paper Structure
Paper 1
Listening, Reading, Translation
⏱ 2h 30min🎯 100 marks📊 50% of grade
Paper 2
Writing (set works and society)
⏱ 2 hours🎯 80 marks📊 30% of grade
Speaking
Independent research project
⏱ 21–23 minutes🎯 60 marks📊 20% of grade
Key Information
| Exam Board | AQA |
| Specification Code | 7678 (now discontinued — last assessment 2018; AQA no longer offers Urdu A-Level) |
| Qualification | A-Level |
| Grading Scale | A*–E |
| Assessment Type | 2 + Speaking + NEA |
| Number Of Papers | 2 + Speaking + NEA |
| Exam Duration | See specification |
| Total Marks | 120 |
| Available Sessions | See awarding body website |
| Total Resources | 0 |
Key Topics in Urdu
Topics you need to know
Urdu literary tradition (Ghalib, Iqbal, Premchand)Modern Urdu prose and journalismClassical poetry forms (ghazal, nazm, masnavi)Translation between Urdu and EnglishPakistani society and culturePartition narratives
Exam Command Words
| Command word | What the examiner expects |
|---|---|
| Analyse | Break down a topic into parts and examine relationships between them |
| Evaluate | Reach a judgement supported by evidence; weigh strengths and weaknesses |
| Discuss | Present arguments from different perspectives and arrive at a conclusion |
| Justify | Give convincing reasons supporting a stated position |
| Explain | Give reasons or causes for an outcome, using subject-specific terminology |
| Compare | State similarities and differences using comparative language |
Typical Grade Boundaries
| Grade | Approximate mark needed |
|---|---|
| A* | 78–88% |
| A | 67–78% |
| B | 56–67% |
| C | 46–56% |
| D | 36–46% |
| E | 26–36% |
⚠️ Typical linear A-Level boundaries. Actual boundaries vary year to year — always check the official mark scheme.
How to Use AQA A-Level Urdu Past Papers Effectively
Translation work is where most marks are won or lost in any A-Level South Asian language. For AQA past papers, translate every prose extract twice: once for accuracy (matching every clause to a source phrase), once for fluency (rewriting in idiomatic English). Compare the two against the mark scheme.
In writing tasks, register is critical. Mixing colloquial and literary registers loses marks even where vocabulary is otherwise accurate. Build separate vocabulary lists for: (1) literary criticism vocabulary (kavi, naqaad, lehja, mizaaj), (2) academic/social-issue vocabulary (taraqqi, masaail, samaaj), (3) classical poetry terminology (radif, qaafiya, behar). Annotate one ghazal per week with full literary terminology.
For literature questions, structure essays using the five-paragraph academic frame familiar from English Literature: introduction with thesis, three analytical paragraphs each grounded in a different stanza or chapter, concluding paragraph offering a wider judgement. Quote in Urdu (transliterated where necessary) and gloss in English when analysing.
If preparing for Edexcel rather than AQA, note that Edexcel's set texts are different — use AQA papers for skills practice only, not for content drilling.
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